Kai Po Che: Beyond the 3 Mistakes

Bundled with the frames of crude Ahmdawaad and set in the 2000s, Kai Po Che sensitively touches the political scene of Godhra riots, yet trying to be “fair” enough to cross the boundaries of the censor board and the kesariya and green flagged “institutions”. The film is one of the best cinematic adaptations of an Indian novel done by an Indian filmmaker, in the boundaries of course. For those who have already read Bhagat’s “The Three Mistakes of my Life”, it should be a motion picture of every word written in the book (except the climax which makes it better than the novel), as if it was written to be adapted into the screenplay by default. The small sports shop set against the backdrop of the mammoth temple in the film impeccably concretized the picture that I had drawn while reading it.

The film promises nothing over the top. We have three average Gujarati fellows who are fighting out their everyday conflicts and who are forced into a political war. Like all of us. The divide of religion claims the lives of their loved ones and like our everyday lives, the political agenda of mere [dharm ke] log, tere [dhram ke] log that is pushed through this war is too ridiculous to help them in any logical way. While leaving the theater, I asked myself, how far do I identify myself with these political agendas and “aspirations”? I do find Ish, Govi and Omi around myself in every part of the country and we commit the same mistakes under the influence of ideological fallacy forced upon us by politicos in the name of caste, creed, religion and all such non issues. Kai Po Che makes one think over it one more time.

That was about the narrative. This narrative has been translated beautifully on screen into a two and a half hour long entertainment flick. We see beautiful shots and brilliantly used colourful lights to show different shades of the characters. The hardish tone used in the flashback story gives a perfect look to the Gujarat of 2000s. The characters are well justified by all the three actors. Rajkumar Yadav (Govi) has stolen the show completely. The raw Gujarati background score by Hitesh Sonik is as good as the music by Amit Trivedi.

The Ahmdawaadis

And yes, the best part of the film is its climax. It ends in an unexpected mournful manner and leaves you in utter shock putting the questions-that-you-already-know over our democracy. And, the answers? Well, you already know.